The US Department of Homeland Security has ended the automatic extension of work permits for certain classes of applicants, creating more obstacles for Indians holding Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) to continue working when their EAD is up for renewal.
This ends the practice of the Biden administration that allowed certain sections of immigrants to keep working even after their work permit expired as long as they had filed a renewal application on time.
The new rule is set to impact certain categories of spouses of H-1B holders (those on H4 Visa), certain dependents of L1 holders, and students on F1 visas on OPT who hold EADs. It also impacts asylum seekers and refugees who hold work permits. Green card holders, H-1B, and L-1 holders do not need this work permit and remain unaffected by this.
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday night announced an ‘interim final rule’ ending the practice of automatically extending EADs for those filing renewal applications in certain employment categories.
“Aliens who file to renew their EAD on or after Oct. 30, 2025, will no longer receive an automatic extension of their EAD,” the notification read. “With this rule, DHS prioritises the proper screening and vetting of aliens before extending the validity of their employment authorizations,” the DHS added.
Essentially, if the said immigrants hold an EAD and are currently in a job, the renewal of the EAD will not be automatic as it earlier was. It will involve certain legal vetting procedures and if their old EAD expires during this process, they cannot work legally.
US Immigration specialists note that the rule applies only to immigrants already holding EADs and for renewal applications on these filed after October 30. Currently, as per USCIS regulations, the earliest that these people can apply for renewals of work permits is 6 months (180 days) before they expire, but in reality, the average processing time on some types of work permits is higher than 6 months, they add.
Companies now have the responsibility to remind employees to file renewal applications at the earliest and also review current EAD cards of their foreign workers to identify if they have lapsed to avoid penal proceedings, they add.
This is set to increase processing delays and cause interim employment disruptions at a time when the renewal process already has a backlog. USCIS data shows that over 165,000 work permit renewals were pending for more than 180 days.
“USCIS is placing a renewed emphasis on robust alien screening and vetting, eliminating policies the former administration implemented that prioritised aliens’ convenience ahead of Americans’ safety and security,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement.
Earlier, under the Biden Administration, the DHS had adopted regulations giving immigrants with pending renewals of EADs an automatic extension of 540 days owing to the Covid backlogs.
Published on October 30, 2025